Monday, 25 August 2014

Almond and cherry slices

Mr CC has been muttering of late that I don’t make
his favourite sort of cakes. The poor thing is practically malnourished due to
my neglect! When I asked him what were his favourite sort of cakes he replied: anything that Mr
Kipling makes. Now don’t get me wrong; I am not (ok, I try not to be) a
cake snob and will happily enjoy a Mr Kipling cake if there’s one on offer…but
the thought of choosing one over a nice home baked treat is something I
struggle with; if Mr CC heard my dramatic in-take of breath at his comment he
didn’t let on.

Mr CC mentioned, in particular, almond slices so I
pondered how to take the essence of a Mr Kipling almond slice and pimp it up a
bit. I decided on adding a pastry base, chopped cherries and some thick
white icing. It then dawned on me that what I had actually created was
the lovechild of a Mr Kipling almond slice and bakewell tart…and it tasted as good as you’d expect!

If you’re pushed for time you can forget the pastry
and simply bake the filling; the result will be a very pleasing almond
sponge. The cherries work so well with almond. Whilst I still can’t
manage half a glace cherry on top of a cake, chopped into small pieces I rather
like the fruity –almost jammy - chewy little pop they bring to
proceedings. The cake will keep for days - anything with almonds seems to
get better day after day as the nut oil is released.

This basic recipe has some alternative options
available – omit the cherries and replace with fresh fruit such as raspberries
or blueberries; you could also add a layer of jam between pastry and filling.

I must be a cake snob too......... My memories of Mr Kipling are that they were pretty naff, processed and quite artificial in flavour and presentation..... These are a million times better. Mr CC needs to appreciate your talents a little bit more me thinks!!!!

hahaha! I grew up with Mr Kipling cakes and adore Cherry Bakewells, guess what I buy when I visit England (I live in France)?! Used to love Almond Slices too. I make my own cakes and of course they are superior ;-) but it's just that occasional Mr K's are a hark back to childhood and 70s convenience food (like Vesta chow mein!!). If I lived in England no way would I be buying Mr K's cakes, lol! So I will be having a bash at this recipe as it sounds great. And my hubby will be very happy as he's the same as me about Cherry Bakewells. I might have to put a whole glace cherry on top though, especially for him. :-)

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So, the answer to the question you’re all asking: who am I? Well, a superhero never reveals their identity. I think it’s stated somewhere in the contract when you sign up for superhero-dom. Let’s just call me THE CAKED CRUSADER. By day (and night if I’m being honest) a mild-mannered City professional, but at weekends I become THE CAKED CRUSADER. Tirelessly fighting anti-cake propaganda and cake-related injustices – for SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, ALWAYS NEEDS CAKE (we’ll just skip over the fact that it’s usually me).

Batman’s got the batmobile, batcave etc. Superman does just great what with being able to fly and being really strong. Spiderman’s got that web thing going on. But I have better than them. For I have a credit card and could get one of these:

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I am a 40-something Chartered Accountant working in the square mile.
My main hobbies at the moment are baking, and setting the world record for the number of cake tins owned by one person.
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